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Does Rob Ford have a woman problem?: Zerbisias

Mayor Rob Ford is not playing very well to half the electorate, at least according to his record of stunningly sexist remarks.

While he also has demonstrated he has issues with lesbian, gay and trans people (LGBTs), people of colour and various ethnic backgrounds, it’s his problem with women that has stood out recently.

Not scoring with the ladies could cost him the election, should he remain in the race until voting day in October. Or could it?

True, political polls — at least not the publicly released ones — don’t break down voting intentions by sexual orientation or countries of origin.

But gender is fair game.

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Even after the crack smoking scandal broke wide open and the Star published a video of him ranting how he would kill someone and “rip his f---ing throat out,” Ford could claim that women supported him.

But then, that was before his claim that women preferred cash in their Christmas stockings, and before he dragged his downcast wife, Renata, into a media mob to apologize for his infamous comment about “p---y” being plentiful on the menu back home.

Still, although his appeal to the fairer sex was lagging behind his male support, it was there. In fact, in one poll, published on the very day of his stunningly lewd statement, his approval rating ran about 4:3 male to female.

Which, considering the reported police visits to the Ford home in response to domestic-violence calls, former mayoralty candidate Sarah Thomson’s charge that he fondled her backside at a public event, and Ford’s claims on his now-cancelled Sunday talk radio show that women need schooling on how politics work, was stronger than many would expect.

“The women who are still with him may be making their candidate choice or thinking about their vote more in the context of ideology, or some of the policies that he stands for,” explains Queen’s University professor Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, a political scientist with expertise in gender and political behaviour.

“These women might have bought into all this rhetoric about overspending and how the gravy train is over. They may be motivated by considerations other than gender.”

So is he now headed for a crash among that segment of voters?

After Wednesday night’s leak of an audio recording that contained Ford’s crudely worded wish to get up close and very personal with political rival Karen Stintz, campaign pollsters are likely to seek out female opinions on the mayor’s chances for re-election.

But we shouldn’t be surprised, say observers, if Ford retains a core of female support despite his anti-women comments.

“Why wouldn't he?” asks Brenda O’Neill, head of the political science department at the University of Calgary. “Why would we assume that misogynists wouldn’t have women supporters?

“Not all women recognize misogyny for what it actually is.”

For Stephanie Guthrie, founder of Women in Toronto Politics, a nonpartisan grassroots group aiming to amplify women’s voices in civic discourse, Ford’s latest comments come as no shock.

“His statements are news, but not new,” she says. “For me, and I know for a lot of other women, people of colour, LGBTQ people, it’s endlessly frustrating and a painful reminder that, not only are we as a society willing to tolerate and defend those kind of attitudes from politicians, but that we’re willing to vote them into the highest levels of elected office in the city.”

Guthrie adds that it’s not just Ford’s words that matter; it’s also his actions.

“Look at how his comments about women, people of colour, about gay people, have linked with his policies on things, with the kind of things he votes for and against,” she emphasizes. She worries that women aren’t making the connection between cuts to programs that help women and children and Ford’s attitude towards women.

As for his hard-partying at the club Muzik, as reported by the Star, Guthrie was alarmed by how the female staffers dispatched to join his entourage in a private room were stripped of their phones, ostensibly to avoid any videos.

“It’s just such a great example of the position of privilege that he occupies, and the ways in which people who are marginalized are used to serve the ends of people in positions of privilege,” she maintains. “Can you imagine being a woman paid to hang out with Rob Ford and stroke his ego?”

Goodyear-Grant points, as an example, to women who have voted for the federal Conservative party despite its less than female-friendly policies. She says the same sort of thing occurs at the municipal level.

“Voters don’t always behave in a way that connects their objective interests with their vote decisions,” she says. “Voters are bad at figuring out what’s best for them. That’s well established in political science research.”

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